Lichfield District Council approves Southern Staffordshire unitary proposal
An initial proposal to create a new Southern Staffordshire unitary authority has been backed by Lichfield District Council’s full council.
The proposal was put together in response to the government’s English Devolution White Paper.
It will see an end to current two-tier areas where services are delivered via different councils – such as Lichfield District Council and Staffordshire County Council – with a single body representing around 500,000 residents instead.
The county council has already put forward plans for a single Staffordshire body, but Lichfield District Council has supported the creation of a Southern Staffordshire authority consisting of up to six existing county areas.
Leader of Lichfield District Council, Councillor Doug Pullen (pictured) said: “Lichfield District Council has been asked by government to submit its initial preferences for local government reorganisation, and it has been important for us to consider the best outcome for our residents in this proposal.
“Before going into any detail of the proposal, we agreed the principles to ensure any proposal has residents at the heart of it, remained close to communities, has strong economic foundations and will exist to provide better public services.
“Amongst all councillors, it was agreed that a Southern Staffordshire Unitary would best achieve our guiding principles as well as meeting the government’s criteria for a unitary authority.”
Councils in Staffordshire were asked by Jim McMahon, the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, to submit outline plans for reorganisation to government by 21 March 2025.
Cllr Pullen added: “Following agreement of our preferred position, we will now focus on working on the detail of our proposal prior to final submissions in November 2025.
“We will work closely with authorities across Staffordshire and engage with residents and businesses to agree the best outcome for Lichfield District.”
The final decision on new councils will be taken by central government with the earliest changes expected to be fully implemented in 2028.
